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Friday, October 26, 2012

When Wyatt was born, we delivered at 38w 2d. My due date with Willow was 10/30, but I had the 18th or 20th in my head the whole time. When those days came and went, it almost felt like I had gone "over due" and my pregnancy really started dragging. I was having contractions at night everyday, and right before I went to sleep, I'd think, ok, this is it. In the morning, I'd wake up, still pregnant and no contractions. Every day past 38w 2 days I'd think "I've never been this pregnant before!". Every day brought their birthdays closer and closer together.

I was checked at my 38 week appointment. 2 cms. Over the next week I walked for hours, the mall, the zoo, we even went to the state fair! I started taking EPO (evening primrose oil) each night and drinking red raspberry leaf tea. I started losing my mucus plug that Friday. On Tuesday night (10/23) I even had acupuncture! I knew that the contractions I was having were real, and had to be doing SOMETHING in there. I just couldn't keep them constant enough to get labor going. I was sincerely hoping that the acupuncture would be the kick in the pants I needed, so to speak.

I woke up the next morning (10/24) and was still having contractions. Nothing too painful, but not BH anymore either. Consistently inconsistent. If I was walking, I would have them regularly. If I stopped walking, so would the contractions. I went to the dr at 9:30 to get checked again at my 39 week appointment. If she said still 2cms, then I was just going to quit. Go back to work and resign myself to the fact that Willow just wanted a November birthday.

Lo and behold, progress! I was 3 cm, and she stripped my membranes. She said that my cervix was 75% effaced and so soft she could stretch to to 5! I asked her what should I do from here, and she told me to go walk. No work for me today, walk walk walk. Got to the mall around 10:15 or so and walk walk walked until almost 2. At this point I was getting extremely frustrated. I would have noticeable (but not painful) contractions 3-5 min apart while walking. As soon as I stopped, they stopped.

I was starting to get a little crazy. I can look back and admit this now. I was taking my lack of labor personally. As if I could WILL myself into labor. And it wasn't working, so I took that to mean that I was failing at going into labor.

Scott and I went to bed around 9:00 or so. He fell asleep right away. Of course, I couldn't sleep, being so busy WILLING labor to start. Around 10:15 I noticed that the quality of ctx had changed. I needed to breathe through them. Just one long "whew" was all it took, but that counts. Contraction master said that they were coming 1, 3 and 5 min apart, but I didn't put much stock into that, since I really stink at timing ctxs. When it had been an hour, I thought I'd take a shower to see if anything changed. In the shower my ctx actually intensified. I was still ok to handle them, but the water was amazing. I only showered for about 10 min or so, hopped out and could immediately tell the difference. "Scott, wake up. I'm in labor. Call my mom, we have to go".

It's now about 11:30. Scott got up, and started to get ready to go. I was trying to brush my hair, which was incredibly difficult. If you have long hair, teach your DH how to braid! That would have been extremely helpful. He asked if he had time to shower, and I said of course, I did. After all, we rushed to the hospital with Wyatt and he was born 24 hours later. We had plenty of time. I just wanted to get to the hospital so I could get my epidural already. I noticed that I was having bloody show as well, and peeing more frequently than ever. Cxt weren't fun on the toilet, but it was better than nothing.

At about 11:45ish my demeanor started changing. Why haven't you called my mom?? I felt like Scott was moving like a sloth. Wasn't I clearly communicating a sense of urgency? What are you doing? Call my mom. He said he was trying to put his contacts in. He can't function blind. Totally reasonable, but in my demented labor mind, I thought a phone call needs your mouth, not your eyes! Anyway, they did get called and we called Jaye as well, so she could come take pictures at the hospital. She asked us to call when we got there, and she'd head over. My parents got there about 10 min later and off we went!

We only live about 10 mins from the hospital, but that was the longest 10 min of my life. I kept telling Scott to go faster, run that red light, GO FASTER. Obviously he didn't listen to me. We passed no less than 3 cops. Scott saw them as tickets avoided. I saw them as lost opportunities for police escort to the hospital.

We finally got to the hospital and I jumped out while Scott parked the car. I waddled to triage, opened the door, said "My name is Mya, and I'm ready for my epidural now". Everyone laughed and I promptly had a contraction. They rushed through admitting questions and got me on the scale. I had another contraction. Walked the 15 feet to the triage room and had another contraction. They asked if my water had broken as I climbed on the bed. Nope. Have you been checked? 3 cm this morning, and wait, my water just broke! They noted the time as 12:15, and checked ny cervix - 5 cm. FIVE?? I was really hoping for 6 or 7 as I thought I may have been in transition in the car. Five was my personal green light for an epi though, so I thought it was better than nothing!

The 10 min we spent in triage was awful. I kept asking every one to please hurry up and get me upstairs. They were very nice, but again I found my self wondering if I wasn't conveying my sense of urgency. They kept telling me that I needed to hum through, and that it would be over in one minute. I told them that I wasn't getting a break. It wasn't over in a minute, they just kept coming. Eventually they believed me, and we raced through the hospital. As we passed the waiting room I saw Jaye, and she joined our entourage.

We got to the delivery room, and it was about 12:30. They asked me to climb onto the bed, and I told them I didn't think I could do that. They told me to take my time. I waited until the next cxt wa over and got out of the wheel chair. As soon as I stood up, hello cxt. I managed to get my knees up on the bed, and Scott was applying counter pressure on my hips. The nurse asked if I was pushing. What, no, no I'm not? Wait, you're right! I am! Why am I pushing, and WHERE IS MY EPIDURAL? They said that they were going to get him now. She said well let me check you. She checked, and said "Why don't we get the doctor instead, and have this baby? You're complete!". Huh?

My mental calculations went like this. Epidural man will be here in 10 min. Then I have to sign paperwork. Then it will take 10 min to kick in. Estimate 30 minutes before pain relief is effective. Hmm. Push out a baby? I bet that would be faster....

I looked at Jaye and my husband, did a fist pump in the air and said "I win! Let's have a baby." I sort of faked it for a contraction or two, waiting for the final lip or cervix to go. Pushing wasn't a relief so to speak, but it gave me something active to do, rather than tolerate labor. 2 contractions and 3 long pushes later, we had a baby. My first thought (because obviously i was completely coherent) was "still no penis?? STILL NO PENIS!" then "whoa, she's so tiny!" I was waiting for the "ring of fire" but I didn't really get it. I could tell when she was crowning, compared to just pushing, but it didn't burn like I was expecting. Pushing out her shoulders was harder than I thought it would be, but I feel like they just slipped out with Wyatt. We got to do skin to skin this time, and I made Scott cut the cord. He didn't with Wyatt, and would have chosen not to this time again, but I needed him to. When they asked if he wanted to he said no, I said yes. I looked at him and said I just had a baby with no meds. You are cutting the cord. And so he did.

Lane Amelia entered this world at 12:56 pm. 6 lbs, 6 oz 19 inches long. Once again, there was no newborn team at the warmer, simply because there wasn't time.

So I had a 2.5 hour labor with no meds. On accident. I still can't wrap my head around it.